10 Smart Things I've Learned from People Who Never Went to College

David DiSalvo
, ContributorOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

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6. Kindness isn’t optional.

Kurt Vonnegut famously said, "There's only one rule that I know of… you've got to be kind.” Why do some people just “get” this while others find being kind a chore? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with our need to feel right, and an attendant unwillingness to consider that maybe we really aren’t right, and it’s not worth treating another person unkindly to prove whatever point is on the table. Besides that, being unkind is illogical because it only incites unkindness aimed at you, and who wants that?

More than one person has said something like this to me, and I think it’s dead on right. Often it’s rumination about how we won’t survive this or that calamity that really gets us. But usually we can find the inner reserves to overcome just about anything, and will probably surprise ourselves that we pulled it off. I’m not saying it won’t hurt like hell, or bring us to our very brink, but we usually give ourselves far too little credit for being able to overcome difficulty. I won’t quote Nietzsche here, but you get the point.

8. Get a dog.

I suppose this one could also be “get a cat” or a fish for that matter, but as someone once told me, there’s something about a dog that brings out the best in its owners. Companionship with a beast brimming with unconditional love does a body good – especially when hard times hit.

9. Money is important, but experience is invaluable.

I honestly can’t recall where I first heard this but I’m putting it on this list anyway because I think it’s really important. When you buy something, you’ll enjoy that thing for awhile, but our in-built tendency toward habituation will eventually assert itself and the thing will become yet another thing we own. When we invest in experience, however, we are buying memories, and new learning, and new ways of thinking, and a whole lot more. Those are things that become part of who we are, and no physical item can touch that dollar for dollar.

10. Just be ready.

We’ll end with a nice bit of simple logic. Just be ready…for anything. Quoting that inestimable philosopher, Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan - until they get punched in the face.” Exactly. So be ready to get punched in the face, and then refer back to #7 on this list.